While smoking has become seriously politically and medically incorrect among many people across the developed world there is still a strong interest in how some tobacco products such as cigars came into being. Of all cigar products there is one that stands out - the Cuban cigar.
For hundreds of years now Cuba has been renowned for the quality of its cigars. In fact they are the most famous and perhaps only truly consistently successful export industry that Cuba has retained since the onset of Communism when the Batista regime was overthrown by the Fidel Castro led revolution in 1959. However the Castro regime quickly nationalised the Cuban tobacco industry.
According to historians, the commercialisation of the Cuban tobacco industry dates back to the 18th century when tobacco production became a major industry. While the tobacco plant originated in South America its beginning does not appear to have been accurately recorded.
Initially the use of tobacco was very much for so-called medicinal purposes - something that seems hard to believe today. This was due to the Cuban natives' belief in tobacco being a miraculous cure.
There are many different brands of Cuban cigar including:
Bolivar cigars, Cohiba cigars and El Rey Del Mondo cigars
Cuban cigar production is quite complex with a great deal of concentration on perfection. Up to 20 different kinds of tobacco leaves are used to form the wrappers for the cigars. Keeping the right level of humidity is also essential to maintain the quality of the tobacco and the cigar overall. It is up to the cigar maker to get the wrapping of the cigar just right including the trimming and smoothness of the wrapper.
Special attention needs to be paid to shaping the end of the cigar exactly to fit the mouth of the cigar smoker. The cigar also must be of an exact length. A specially designed guillotine is used to cut the cigar to the desired length.
The next part of the process is the tying of the ribbon around the cigar after which the cigars must be placed in a special fumigating chamber for immunization to protect smokers against the risk of plagues infecting the tobacco.
The final step is a further quality control process that must be perfect. Any inconsistency in meeting the required length and shape, thickness and texture of the cigars will see the cigar maker's batch of cigars rejected.
As the cigar makers' are paid on a piece-work basis such failures cannot be allowed. This in turn assists in producing a consistently high standard of cigar.